A 'Town' of Their Own

Lookingglass ensemble puts down stakes in Wilder's complex classic

At any given moment, in every possible corner of the theatrical globe, it's a good bet some group of actors -- whether high school neophytes or top notch professionals -- is transforming itself into the population of the fictional town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire.

Guided by that droll, mock-pedantic, fourth wall-shattering narrator called only "the Stage Manager," their characters, all part of Thornton Wilder's 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Our Town," will move through the simplest yet most profound experiences, from adolescence and first love, to marriage, death and grief.

Meanwhile, Lookingglass Theatre, in many ways its own self-contained "small town" of a company, is about to open its take on Wilder's play, with co-directors Jessica Thebus and Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro (of "August: Osage County" fame), overseeing a vast cross-section of the company's ensemble, including David Schwimmer (of "Friends" fame) and Joey Slotnick.

"I've read this play many times over the years but have never seen it, and I think that's an advantage," said Schwimmer, who last performed with his Lookingglass pals in their 1998 production of "The Idiot." (Schwimmer will play the role of George Gibbs, the doctor's son, with ensemble member Laura Eason as his high school sweetheart, Emily Webb, daughter of the newspaper editor.)

"My biggest anxiety about this production has been the age thing," the actor confessed. "We're all about 40 now, and I thought if we did this show we'd have to decide not to play age, but to really dig into the language and never be too 'twee' or folksy. And Wilder gives actors this great device for doing just that because we all come out on stage early on and are named. So right off the bat the audience is told these are not really the people whose lives they are about to invest themselves in. Plus we make no attempt to physicalize or vocalize as 16-year-olds. The goal is just to be absolutely present and vulnerable."

And, Schwimmer noted, while many high school and college students perform this play "there really is no way a teenager can possibly understand its full meaning. I'm 42 now, so I've had a broken heart, and I'm closer to mortality, and I think all those things help greatly here."

The irony, as the actor notes, is that "Our Town" was "exactly opposite of the kind of play Lookingglass started out thinking it would do."

"We've been dedicated to original work or fresh adaptations," Schwimmer said. "But I think this play is a great vehicle for focusing on our acting --one reason we have two directors. And they work together so seamlessly, with Anna [Shapiro] homing in on motivation and character, and not letting us get away with any tricks, and Jessica [Thebus], the person who can so quickly fix things when something doesn't quite work."

Thebus said she "has always loved the play," and taught it at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. But staging it for Lookingglass has been something special.

"As Anna and I saw it, here was a company of people who have known each other so well and for so long, that they really are a town of their own," said Thebus. "I also recently saw two very different versions of the play, each with amazing moments -- one, a large scale outdoor version at Oregon Shakespeare, and the other Cromer's pared down, highly focused one --so I wanted to try my own. And the chance to have 13 actors all from 'inside' Lookingglass, with such a shorthand about the way they work, is fantastic. There is such a playfulness in the room as a result of that deep knowledge."

"Aesthetically, 'Our Town,' which Wilder specifically imagined as having no scenery, was truly revolutionary in 1938, even if that is a familiar notion now," said Thebus. "But the question becomes: 'What is nothing? And how do you tell the story with such physicality and boldness that the play really occupies the space?"

For Laura Eason, a director and playwright as well as an actress, Wilder's magic lies in his ability to solve two problems simultaneously.

"People think this show is simple when actually it is very complex and so beautifully constructed," Eason said. "One thing that always bedevils me as a writer is how you balance the big idea or question you have in mind with the attempt to make your characters real. 'Our Town' is a perfect manifestation of striking that balance, capturing the very particular aspects of life, but also suggesting that these have been part of existence for millions who came before you, so that a specific character's feelings echo throughout the universe."

Thinking beyond "Our Town," the Lookingglass ensemble plans to update its early landmark production -- an adaptation of "The Jungle," Upton Sinclair's muckraking novel -- to reflect more contemporary issues of immigration.

Schwimmer also hopes to direct "Trust," a stage version of a screenplay he has been working on. It tells the story of what happens to a closeknit family after the 14-year-old daughter is groomed by an Internet predator and is subsequently raped.

"At this point I'm not sure which will happen first, the movie or the play," said the actor.